Silenced press benefits Mexican cartels

By JOAN NEUHAUS SCHAAN

Updated 6:53 pm, Tuesday, November 1, 2011

How will we know that Mexico has fallen to organized crime? There will be silence.

While the extortion and killing of teachers in Acapulco and the rise of vigilantes nationwide point to further degradation of the quality of life for the average Mexican, citizens continue to fight to protect themselves, and at least their story is being told - for now.

Five years ago, the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders listed Mexico second among the most dangerous countries for journalists; only Iraq was more dangerous. Three years ago, in the paper "Security in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: The Crisis, the Forces at Work and the Need for Honest Assessment and Action," the attacks on Mexico were detailed along with the continued deterioration of security within Mexico. Two years ago, the Juarez newspaper El Diario published an open letter to the organized crime cartels from its editors stating, in part:

"You are, at present, the de facto authorities in this city because the legal institutions have not been able to keep our colleagues from dying …

"We do not want more deaths. We do not want more injuries or even more intimidation. It is impossible to exercise our role in these conditions. Tell us, then, what do you expect of us as a medium?"

Last year, one television company was subjected to three car bombs in the northern state of Tamaulipas. While self-censorship became the norm, journalists continued to be brutally attacked, and some sought asylum.

With the silencing of the press, Mexican citizens desperately spoke out directly, through YouTube videos, blogs and other social media. But soon these may be silenced.

On Sept. 24, a newspaper editor in Nuevo Laredo was found beheaded. María Elizabeth Macías of Primera Hora had blogged about crime in the area under the name "La Nena de Nuevo Laredo," and her body was found with a note: "OK. Nuevo Laredo Live and the social networks, I am La Nena de Laredo and I am here because of my reports and yours … for those who don't want to believe it, this has happened to me because of my actions."

On Sept. 13, two individuals were found disemboweled and hanging from a Nuevo Laredo bridge with a message to "Blog del Narco," a leading source of narco-terror reporting since the silencing of the local press. The deaths of these two people indicate a marked turn for the worse: Organized crime has not only been able to identify bloggers and exact retribution, but it is using the most gruesome of torture.

Three wild cards will mark the near future. The first comes from elections. What if organized crime controls the political system? In 2009, Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense estimated the cartels funded candidates in 219 municipalities in 22 states, and the situation is likely worse now. In many cases, the political opposition has been assassinated, whether candidates or office holders. For example, between February 2010 and July 2011, at least nine mayors in Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Chihuahua (Mexican states bordering Texas) were attacked; six of them were killed.

The second comes from a change in strategy. What if the Mexican government finds it expedient to side with one cartel over others? Some Mexican political leaders seem to be giving this possibility serious consideration, whether out of allegiance or necessity. What if a similar strategy is pursued by the United States?

The third wild card comes from the Internet, namely "Anonymous" and other hacker groups. On Sept. 19, "Mexican Anonymous" hacked into Mexican government systems to expose indifference and corruption. "We demonstrate to the government and drug trafficking groups that we will not allow more violence and insecurity and let them know Mexican Anonymous," they explained. The fight against Mexican organized crime has not included an Internet offensive. Perhaps this is the first salvo.

The killings continue in Mexico, and Texans have witnessed the border war firsthand. Have you heard of the recent battles in Tampico? Most likely not. If there is silence, we should all be very, very concerned.